Heaven's Kitchen provides for 100 people

Once a week, up to 100 people are fed a low-cost three-course meal at Heaven's Kitchen cooked by chef Melissa Gregory.

ONCE a week, up to 100 people are fed a low-cost three-course meal at Heaven's Kitchen cooked by chef Melissa Gregory.

Each Tuesday night, people finding it tough come to Devonport's Gateway Church to Heaven's Kitchen for a nutritious dinner and the social interaction which is also nourishing.

"We see pensioners and larger families who are struggling," Ms Gregory said.

This week, the University of Tasmania Healthy Food Basket Survey conducted in association with the Heart Foundation of Tasmania found that some families had to spend more than 40 per cent of their household budget to eat a balanced diet.

The survey found that only 5 per cent of Tasmanian shops selling fresh fruit and vegetables were in the low- income areas.

Healthy Food Access Project manager Leah Galvin said: "The reality is not all Tasmanians can just jump in the car and pop to the shops and buy what you need for dinner."

Ms Gregory said at Heaven's Kitchen, the access to good food helped connect people.

"As a chef, it's awesome to be able to do this," Ms Gregory said.

"I really enjoy taking the cooking classes that teach kids how to cook basic healthy food, and we do things they can do at home like vegetarian pizzas and smoothies to try to get kids eating more fruit and veg.

"It has got to be accessible affordable food."

Food rescue operation Secondbite provides a lot of the food which is put to such good use at Heaven's Kitchen.

The donations include seconds picked up from Coles and excess produce from farms.

Harvest Moon also donates food.

"We make a nutritious three-course meal from it," Ms Gregory said.

"The food we don't use for the meal we give out at the end of the night so parents have access to fresh fruit and vegetables.

"I think what we're struggling against are the cheap takeaways.

"Some people don't realise how easy it is to cook nutritious food and a lot of people put buying their food last.

"A lot of our clients also don't have ready access to farmers markets and supermarkets. They don't have transport so they can only access what's in their area.

"What we're finding is some pensioners and low- income families don't have enough to stretch, and they get what they can."

Devonport Community House has partnered with the Devonport City Council and Heaven's Kitchen in receiving a grant from Tas Medicare Local's social determinants of health funding to further knowledge on food security in the region and opportunities for improvement in health through promoting good nutrition locally.